A/N I'm happy to tell you I have a new beta! So, thank you LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict for proof reading this chapter and correcting my spelling and grammar mistakes!

Chapter 20 Leaving again

The alarm clock woke Luke up the next day. They hadn't been home until 5.30 that morning. Both, him and Lorelai were exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. It had been a very busy day, but one that the both of them would never forget again.
After only 3 hours of sleep the alarm clock went of. Luke turned it off and looked at Lorelai. He smiled. This was the first night together as a married couple. He woke up next to his wife. He had no idea that it would feel that good.

Lorelai opened her eyes when she felt his lips on her forehead. She smiled at him "Hey."

"Hey beautiful."

"Why are we awake, it's freaking early."

"Well…" He didn't continue because she knew why he was awake.

"I wish we could just stay here. The past week has been amazing. We spent a lot of time together and I really missed this. Her leaving again will be even worse than when she had to leave the first time."

"I know, but she has no choice has she?"

Lorelai sighed. "I know that, but it still sucks."

"Yes it does."

"Can't we just accidentally make her miss the plane, then she has no choice but to stay."

"It's London were she's going to. There are like 5 planes going there every day."

"Oh… yeah… forgot about that."

"It's June before you know it, and you can spent the entire summer together before she goes back to Yale."

"Half a year Luke, that's six months, which is 26 weeks which is … many days and even more hours and like a bazillion seconds.…"

He kissed her and pulled her into his arms. He tried to think of something to say that would make six months look not that long, but he couldn't think of anything, so he just held her for a while.

After a while she was the first one to speak. "I think I'm going to take a shower. I need more time than you do, so you go downstairs, see if Rory is awake and prepare breakfast, I'll be down as soon as I can. Than after breakfast I'll do the whole making up thing, cause after this short night I must look like hell and you and Rory can take turns showering. After that we can drive to New York, and do you know what. Rory already said goodbye to all the people, so that saves us some time."

He nodded and kissed her forehead before he stepped out of bed to put some clothes on.

Downstairs Luke found Rory already dressed, reading a magazine.

"Wow, you're up early."

Rory looked up. "Hey, morning Luke."

"How long have you been awake?"

"To tell you the truth I haven't slept at all. I tried but I started thinking of everything I still had to do, so sleep wouldn't catch in. I realized I could just stay awake, this way I'll sleep in the plane tonight and it won't seem so long. So I got out, took a shower and started packing my things. I just finished everything I wanted to do, so I found myself a magazine."

"You're mom's in the shower now. She sent me down to make some breakfast. So, what would you like to have?"

"Pancakes and some eggs?"

"Pancakes and eggs it is."

After a while Rory entered the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table while Luke was backing the pancakes.

"Luke, do you think mom will go back to the way she was after I left the first time?"

"I don't know." He sighed. He turned the gas down, put his spatula on the kitchen sink and sat down next to Rory. "Listen, don't worry about your mother to much. Things will work out. She's going to miss you, and you'll miss her, too. But she will be okay. The first few days will be hard, but she will get used to it again. It's only a month and a half till the baby gets born and there are still a lot of things that need to be done, so I think she'll have enough distraction. You made it through the first few months and you will make it through the last months, too."

"I know… but I'm going to miss all the good things Luke, with the baby and all…"

"We already had this conversation the first time you left. We promised you to tape all the good moments, so you'll indirectly be a part of them. And there will be a lot of other good parts when you get back."

"But it won't be the same."

"No it won't." Both Luke and Lorelai turned around when they heard Lorelai's voice.

"You're fast today mom."

"Well, that's what I tried."

"How long were you here?"

"Long enough to hear most of the conversation."

"Oh…"

"Honey, even when you are here, you're in New Haven most of the time. We can't call you if the baby laughs the first time, because it will be over the first time you get here. There will be some things you will hear or see him or her do for the first time, but it will be a coincidence if you are here at the moment. You are going to be a part of this babies life. But you can't be there for everything. Even Luke and I can't. And that's hard but we have to live with it. We don't really have a choice."

"Did you missed things with me?"

"Yes of course, you weren't with me 24 hours a day. You spent a lot of time with me when you were a baby, but the bigger you got, the more time we spent apart. You went to school and came home telling me things you did that day. Or your teacher told me on a parental meeting. It was nice to hear those things, but it would have been better to see them."

"Oh.."

Luke stood up and went back to his pancakes.

"Rory, I know that after this week it's really hard to go back again. To know that we have to be apart for another 6 months, but there is no way you're staying here. This program is amazing, and you love it there. And I'm going to miss you a lot, but we have to live with it. You want to be a reporter. What do you want to do, only cover stories in Stars Hallow? Because you don't even have to go back to Yale if you want to do that. I'm pretty sure the local paper will give you a job right away."

"No, I don't want to work in Stars Hallow…." She paused…. "I guess you're right."

"Haven't you learnt that by now?"

"I should have huh?" Rory smiled.

"Absolutely." Lorelai pulled her daughter into a hug. "I love you babe, and I'm really going to miss you."

"I love you too, mom."

Lorelai pulled back so she could look into her daughter's eyes. "I want you to know that I'm really proud of you."

"I already know that mom."

"Good, but I just had to tell you."

"Why?"

"Well, after the time I spent with my mother the past week, I realized what I missed all these years. It's the first time we did something together like that. It's the first time she approved something I was doing and she even approved the way I was doing it. She did everything I asked her to do, the exact way I wanted her to do it. Not once she told me that I had to do something differently, or said that what I was doing wasn't appropriate."

"You're nothing like her, in that respect, mom. You always told me you are proud of me, and most of the time you approve the things I'm doing. Of course, there were some things you didn't approve, but that's natural. You're the best mother any person can wish for. I am very lucky to have you, and the baby is very lucky to have you, too."

"Thanks hon."

Luke watched them while he was turning the pancakes around. He couldn't help but smile and he knew his wife was going to be okay this time. Of course she would miss Rory again a lot, but things wouldn't be like they were the last time.

"Hey mom?" Rory said after a while.

"What is it babe?"

"Why don't you come with me, to London. Like a honeymoon?"

Lorelai thought for a while before she replied. "Even though that sounds absolutely wonderful, you know we can't. In the first place I have to work. Michel covered for me a lot the last week and he needs some time off. Sookie has the kids and I need time for myself when the baby is born. Luke has the same problem with the diner. But even if we could get some time of from work, I still couldn't go."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm in my third trimester. You can't fly anymore if you're in your third trimester. Even though I believe they have great hospitals in London, if I would go into labour early, I don't like the thought of giving birth in an airplane…" She stopped and started smiling. "Hey, maybe that won't be so crazy after all. We can have the baby in the middle of the aisle and Luke can deliver the baby, and you can assist, and it will be in every newspaper. Maybe I should give Michel a call and we can go to London for a week or so."

"No way." Luke walked towards her. "We're staying right here. Sorry Rory, but it's not going to happen."

"But Luke…" Lorelai wined.

"Not a change."

"But…."

Luke took the pancakes of the stove and threw them on a plate. "Don't even think about it Lorelai. Eat your pancakes."

After Rory had checked in, it was time to say goodbye again. There wasn't much time, because the traffic had been bad on the way to the airport. A lot of people were travelling over New Years eve.

"I have to go now."

"I know, call me when you get there again okay, no matter what time."

"Okay mom, I will."

"I love you kiddo."

"I love you too, mom."

Rory turned to Luke and hugged him. "Thanks Luke."

He didn't had to ask what for. "It's okay, I love you kid."

"I love you too, Luke."

He kissed her forehead. After that she let go and turned to her mother once more. "Take care of that little sibling of mine."

"I will. And you promise me you won't hook up with a cute English boy, cause I expect you to come home in June, and go back to Yale again next year and graduate."

"I promise." Rory smiled.

Lorelai hugged her daughter, as far as possible with the large stomach in the way. She kissed her cheek and let go. "Bye honey."

"Bye mom, bye Luke." Rory walked away and turned around once more to wave.

When they were back in the car, Luke started to drive. After a while he missed the exit they had to take to go back to Stars Hallow.

"Luke, you had to take that exit."

"Which one?"

She pointed back. "That one."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, how many times did you drive here? If you have to take the next one, it will take us half an hour extra."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He smiled.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Luke!"

He just smiled and turned on the radio.

"Luke!"

He shake his head and kept driving.

Half an hour later he stopped at a place Lorelai had never seen before. It was a small town inn, a little larger than the Dragonfly.

"What are we doing here?"

"I arranged for Michel to take care of the Dragonfly one more day, and Caesar will handle the diner. I know it won't be a huge honeymoon, but it will be one night, just the two of us out of our curious town so we can celebrate our marriage."

"Wow, but I didn't pack any clothes, and…"

"I did. Don't worry, I packed way too much for you, so you have enough choice in what you want to wear."

"Thanks." Lorelai kept smiling. "When did you arrange all this?"

"A few days ago. They still had some rooms available so that wasn't a problem, and I had to pay Michel a little extra so he would cover for you once more."

"Wow, this is really amazing." She kissed him.

When she pulled back he said, "Let's check in shall we."

He helped her out of the car and took their bag out of the trunk. Luke had put Rory's luggage in it, and had taken it out again, as Lorelai isn't allowed to carry heavy things, so she never noticed the extra back.

The concierge was a nice elderly woman. "How may I help you?"

"I have a reservation under the name Danes." Luke answered.
"Ah yes, Mr. And Mrs. Danes."

Luke nodded and Lorelai smiled at the sound of that. It was the first time someone said it like that, and it sounded really good.

"Let's see, ah, here it is." She handed Luke a paper he had to sign. After he did that she turned around to get the key. "Room 7. I'll walk you up there."

"Thank you."

The woman walked with them and on the way upstairs, she told them everything that was to see in the inn. Upstairs she opened the door to the room and handed Luke the key.

"Have a nice stay, if you need anything you can use the phone in the room to call me. You just have to dial 1. Dinner will be served till 10. Breakfast starts at 8, and will be served till 12, after that we serve lunch."

"Thank you." While Luke and Lorelai walked inside, the woman went back downstairs.

Lorelai admired the room. "Wow, this is beautiful."

Luke looked around too. "It's nothing like the rooms you have at the Dragonfly."

"No, but that's a good thing. This wouldn't have fit in the Dragonfly building, but here it's perfect. If this was my inn, I would have done something like this with the rooms also."

Luke placed the bag on the king size bed, while Lorelai went to check out the bathroom.

"Wow, Luke, come here, see this."

Luke entered the bathroom and noticed why she was so enthusiastic.

"Let's take a bath first, than we can dress up for dinner after that."

"Sounds like a good plan, Luke smiled."

About 10 minutes later they were lying in bathtub together. Lorelai between Luke's legs, leaning up against his chest. Suddenly she realized something. He could feel her tense up. "If we're here, Rory won't be able to call us, she'll get worried, and I won't know if she arrived okay and…"

"Hey, don't worry, I told Rory to call your cell phone, and I took mine as well in case your battery is dead."

He could feel her relax again. "So, you told her we were coming here?"

"Yes, she had to know where she could reach us."

"Yes… thank you." After a few minutes she asked "Luke?"

"Mmm…"

"Yesterday was great, wasn't it?"

"It was perfect."

"Yes, it was perfect."

They talked about their wedding and didn't leave the bathtub until the water got cold. They both changed into some clothes, and Lorelai was happy with everything Luke had brought for her. He had taken so much it was hard for here to make a choice. He was already dressed and shaved before she decided what to put on.

He watched TV while she was getting dressed and put on makeup.

They went down to the dinning room, hand in hand. They sat down at a nice quiet table with a view into the garden. The waiter handed them a menu and took their drinking orders. By the time he brought their drinks, they had made a choice in what they wanted to eat and the waitor took their order.

Luke wasn't sure if it was the right time, but he wanted to bring up the conversation Lorelai had had with Rory that morning. "I've been meaning to tell you how brave I think you were this morning, with the conversation in the kitchen."

"It was hard." She smiled. "But I couldn't let her go back, feeling bad for herself. That wouldn't be good."

"No, I agree."

"So I for once put my own feelings in second place and told her what had to be said to make her feel better."

"Do you really think we'll miss things in our babies life?" This was the direction he wanted to go.

"Yeah, of course. But the things we won't be a part of won't be the things that matter, it will be the things we are a part of that matters."

"And what about the others?"

"Some of them we will be sad about we missed, others we won't. But we can't be with our child 24 hours a day."

"Yeah, that's true."

"We never even really discussed what we're going to do about the baby, after I go back to work."

"I thought we would alternate in taking care of him or her. We can put a play pen in the diner, so some times I can look after her, and we need one in the inn as well, so you can look after the baby some other times. I don't really like the thought of having a nanny, I want to be there to raise our child."

"Me too. I did it with Rory, and most of the time I think it will work."

"Do you think I will be a good father?"

"Do you have to ask?" She laughed.

He was serious though. "Well, you know how I failed with Jess. He never finished high school and he just left."

She noticed he was serious. "Luke, you did a great job with Jess. He was in the middle of puberty when you took him in. You tried so hard and I honestly believe you did everything possible. And he turned okay. He found a place to live, he has a job. He's taking care of himself, and he listens to you. He listened to you when Liz and TJ got married. He came because you asked him to. He came and he thanked you for everything you did."

"Yeah, but still, I feel like I failed him."

"Well honey, you shouldn't have to. And what about Rory? You did a great job with Rory."

"You raised Rory, I didn't."

"She told you this before Luke, and I will tell you now. You've been much more like a father to her than Christopher ever was. She knows it, I know it, and you know it too."

"But…"

"No buts. You are going to be an amazing father. This child is the luckiest child alive because you're its father. And of course you will make a few mistake. I made mistakes with Rory, and I will make mistakes with this baby. But I believe making mistakes is the way to learn how to be a good parent. You learn from the mistakes your parents made with you, and you'll learn from the once you'll make yourself. And the smaller the child is, the better it is to make a mistake because than the child won't remember it." She smiled.

"I hope you are right."

"You know I am, Luke. I don't know where this is coming from."

They were interrupted by the waiter bringing their food.

After he left Lorelai continued. "I doubt about a lot of things in my life, but you being a good father isn't one of them."

"Really?"

"Absolutely, you're going to be the best father ever."

Luke started smiling. He still doubted it, but she sounded so confident that he almost didn't dare to doubt it. "I love you."

"I love you too, Luke."

After dinner they went outside for a walk. They walked in silence, enjoying the beautiful area they were in. They walked for over an hour, until Lorelai realized how tired she was. With the less sleep she got last night, she was exhausted. So they walked back to the inn and changed into their pyjamas.

They each lay on their sides, spooning, Luke's arms safe around her. It didn't take long before they fell asleep.

Somewhere in the night they woke up by the sound of a cell phone ringing. It was Rory, telling them she arrived okay. She sounded enthusiastic by seeing London again. Lorelai was glad to hear the happiness in her daughters voice.

After the phone call ended they fell asleep again soon, so they wouldn't wake up too late the next morning. Luke had booked the room for the entire day so they could take it easy. They took another bath before they went down for brunch. After that they went back to the room and started packing their things.
They took their time, driving back to Stars Hallow. They had dinner at a nice little restaurant and it was 8 p.m. by the time they got home. It was only a small honeymoon, but to them it was special, and to Lorelai it was more then she had expected. When they lay in their own bed together that night, she told him how special the past few weeks had been.

A/N This is not the end of the story or something. Although it does sound like a nice ending, but it's just a great ending to this chapter, there's more I want to write with this story, I mean, there is still a baby that needs to be born. I just felt kind of bad for them not having a honeymoon, and the suggestion of them going with Rory for their honeymoon took me here. It was a great idea, but you can't fly at the end of a pregnancy. Maybe in the end I'll let them go pick Rory up, with the baby, but I'll just have to see where this story is taking me!